Read More

Nigel Farage, who is acting as interim leader since Diane James quit the post after just 18 days, rallied to the defence of Mr Kassam.

Nigel Farage jumped to Kassam's defence (Image: London News Pictures)

He told ITV’s Peston on Sunday: “For her to talk about the party being toxic, for her to already declare one of the candidates who is running, Raheem Kassam, as being far-right, I don’t view this as being a very good start.

“I have to say they are the sort of things she said to me - after the general election she said to me I shouldn’t take any part at all in the referendum campaign, I was toxic, immigration shouldn’t be discussed with the British public.

Mr Farage also lashed out at his former protege Steven Woolfe who qui the party last week following his bust up with fellow UKIP MEP Mike Hookem.

Paul Nuttall said the party faced an 'existential crisis' (Image: Richard Stonehouse/Getty Images)

He said Woolfe was “a guy of talent but sometimes too much ambition gets the better of you.”

He added: “ Steven Woolfe spoke of the downward spiral of UKIP, it was the downward spiral of Steven Woolfe”

Mr Kassam denied he was on the “far right” and accused Ms Evans of a “project fear tactic” and “smears”.

“When she does things like this, it really undermines her, it undermines her campaign and it is an attack on a lot of the party members,” he said.

Mr Nuttall said the party faced an “existential crisis” and could disappear unless it unified.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics: “I want to stand on the platform of being the unity candidate - UKIP needs to come together. I’m not going to be on here and gild the lily, UKIP at the moment is looking over the edge of a political cliff, it’ll either step off or it will step back.